Known motor vehicle doors of this kind, which have a box-like door body and a frame structure connectable therewith, use for a cover the door inner skin whose external contour extends up to the outer seal of the door. The corresponding seal can thereby extend right into the area inside the overlapping door outer skin.
This structural design requires the door inner skin to have a very high mechanical stability and comparatively close tolerances to be observed in order to guarantee a permanent highgrade sealing section. Furthermore, relatively high production costs are involved. A further drawback of the concept described is that the overall hollow space of the door can be formed solely as a wet space which then requires the use of damp-proof door components, such as for example motors, electronic control devices, plugs and cables in a so-called wet space design.
A generic motor vehicle door is described in DE 197 44 810 A1. It consists basically of a door box with a large-surface area cut-out and a door frame module which has a window frame with a transverse profile on the door window sill side and a module support pre-fitted on the frame. The door frame module can be inserted from above into the door box and then connected to it through fixing means. The prefitted module support thereby seals in water-tight manner the cut-out section in the door inside panel of the door box so that between the module support and the door inside skin there is a dry space for mounting the functional elements such as window lifters, speakers etc. In order to seal the ledge on the inside of the door between the frame module and the door box level with the door window sill there is a v-shaped recess provided in the door inner skin beyond which extends a sealing element which runs along the edges of the window frame and door inner skin facing the inside of the door.
This technical solution also makes the door inner skin part of the seal against damp and wet although it is also established that compared to the solution first described lower forces affecting the seal have to be transferred from the fixing elements of the door inner skin. More importantly the fact has to be considered that the door inner skin through its active connection with the circumferential sealing element of the outer seal is restricted in its choice of design.